Power Platform extensibility options in Dataverse

Power Platform extensibility options series

1. Power Platform extensibility options
2. Power Apps
3. Power Automate
4. Dataverse - this article

Where to place logic

Dataverse offers many capabilities for configuring custom business logic without coding. For developers, the primary focus often lies in bridging gaps between existing features, when required functionality is not readily available.

Dataverse provides a number of options to extend the functionality using code, typically triggered by events that occur on the server. Therefore, familiarity with the Event Framework is essential for effectively implementing these extensions.

Long running operations should be executed outside of Dataverse using Power Automate, Logic Apps, or other capabilities offered by Azure.

All operations in a synchronous transaction are limited to a total of two minutes. An exception thrown by your code at any synchronous stage within the database transaction will cause the entire transaction to be rolled back.

Tables in Dataverse can use rich server-side logic and validation, to ensure data quality and reduce repetitive code in each app creating and using data in a table.

• Business rules: Validate data across multiple columns and tables, and provide warning and error messages, regardless of the app used to create the data.
• Business process flows: Guide users to ensure that they enter data consistently and follow the same steps every time. Business process flows are currently only supported for model-driven apps.
• Classic workflows: Automate business processes without user interaction.
  • Background workflows.
  • Real-time workflows.
• Business logic with code: Supports advanced developer scenarios to extend the app directly through code.
  • Plug-in
  • Workflow extension

Key developer extensibility points

• Create plug-ins, similar to event handlers, that customize or extend Dataverse data processing with custom business logic (code)
• Use webhooks and Azure Service Bus to integrate with external systems
• Extend the Dataverse API with your own custom API that implements your business logic
• Use virtual tables to integrate data stored in external systems into Dataverse without replicating the data

Source: Introduction to Microsoft Power Platform for developers

Summary of extensibility options in Dataverse

See full resolution here

Formula columns using Power Fx

Read more: Formula columns

Formula column is a column that derives its value from a formula using other columns in the same table.

Constraints and limitations

The formula can be defined using the Power Apps editor and can reference other calculated columns, but not rollup columns. Calculated columns are read-only and their values are calculated at runtime when the record is retrieved.

They’re not specific to the user; the calculation is performed using a system user account, so the values may be based on records that the user doesn’t otherwise have privileges to view, such as columns that have field-level security enabled.

Calculated columns will eventually be discontinued. It’s recommend to use the Formula columns for calculations instead.

Rollup column using Power Fx

Read more: Rollup column

Contains an aggregate value computed over the rows related to a specified row, can aggregates data from relate records in another table In more complex scenarios, you can aggregate data over the hierarchy of rows.

Constraints and limitations

The rollups are calculated by scheduled system jobs that run asynchronously in the background. Rollup columns are only recalculated every hour by default, but can be scheduled to run daily every x hours.

Rollup columns benefits and capabilities

Key considerations

Business rules

Read more: Business rules

Business logic to ensure that columns in a model-driven app are shown, hidden, or set with the correct values without writing JavaScript code or creating plug-ins. Define business rules for a table that apply to all the table forms and at the server level. Business rules defined for a table apply to both canvas apps and model-driven apps if the table is used in the app.

Constraints and limitations

Not all business rule actions are available on canvas apps at this time: Differences between canvas and model-driven apps

Create business rules to apply logic in a model-driven app form

Low-code Plug-ins using Power Fx

Read more: Low-code Plug-ins

Traditionally, plug-ins were created as custom classes compiled into a .NET Framework assembly, which were then uploaded and registered within Dataverse. However, with the introduction of low-code plug-ins, users can create these event handlers with minimal or no coding required, and without the need for manual registration.

Low-code plug-ins are stored within a Dataverse database and can be seamlessly integrated into Power Apps and Power Automate. The behavior of the workflow is defined using the Power Fx expression language and can directly connect with Dataverse business data and external data sources through Power Platform connectors. With low-code plug-ins, makers can rapidly construct complex workflows with minimal coding expertise, resulting in a more streamlined and efficient data architecture.

Constraints and limitations

Low-code plug-ins are stored within a Dataverse database and are created using Dataverse accelerator app, which must be installed in the environment. All new environments have the Dataverse accelerator app automatically installed as of October 1st 2023.

Use of low-code plugins in your solution requires Premium licenses.

Limitations Formulas currently not supported

Dataverse plugins using .NET

Read more: Dataverse plugins

A plug-in is a custom event handler that executes in response to a specific event raised during processing of a Microsoft Dataverse data operation. It sits between the API and the data.

When the target event occurs during a data processing operation, the code within the registered plug-in class executes. It can create, read, modify, or delete data being processed during the current database transaction. Logic is transactional and either all complete or all roll back.

Plug-in code should be very focused, execute quickly and minimize blocking to avoid exceeding timeout thresholds and ensure a responsive system for synchronous scenarios. Simply submit each request directly instead of batching them and submitting as a single request.

They can perform logic with elevated permissions that the user might not normally have. This approach also allows for minimizing the permissions the app user might require.

Plug-ins can be synchronous or asynchronous. Asynchronous plug-in will cause the data operation to wait until the code in the plug-in completes. This has an impact on end-user perceived performance of the system, which is why synchronous plug-ins must execute and complete quickly. Asynchronous plug-in execution is queued and later executed after the data operation has completed.

Constraints and limitations

Plug-ins on events are not the best approach if you must listen to events on multiple tables to complete a single business event like Close Inspection. Consider a Dataverse custom API instead of having plug-ins on multiple tables. Disadvantages of plug-ins:

• Plug-ins require the special skills of a software developer to create and maintain the plug-in code. Smaller businesses may not have access to a developer with the needed skills. Business processes can change rapidly and providing options to enable change without requiring a developer can allow the system to adapt more rapidly.
• They can be abused. A poorly written plug-in can cause significant impact on the performance of the data processing pipeline and ultimately the environment. The great power of plug-ins needs to be applied with some restraint and consideration for the impact it has on the system as a whole.

Custom process actions

Read more: Custom process actions

Custom process actions provide ability to define a single verb (or message) that matches an operation you need to perform for your business. These new messages are driven by a process or behavior rather than what can be done with a table.

They can perform operations, such as Create, Update, Delete, Assign (record), SendEmail, Start/Stop Workflow or Perform Action Rollback. Custom process actions have always been synchronous ‘real-time’ workflows.

Everything you can do just with the user interface of the action will support transactions. Some actions developers might do in code initiated by the custom process action might not support transactions. For example, if the code perform actions in other systems that are beyond the scope of the transaction.

All the actions that are part of a real-time workflow are considered in transaction, but with actions you have the option to opt out of this. If one of the steps in the action’s real-time workflow is a custom workflow activity, that custom workflow activity is subject to the two-minute timeout limit. However, there are no specific restrictions on the amount of overall time the action itself can take. This absence of restriction isn’t an advantage; workflows can’t run indefinitely and will eventually fail. There are two ways to extend Custom Process Actions using code: with custom workflow activities or by registering plug-ins on stages.

Constraints and limitations

A best practice recommendation is that long running operations should be executed outside of Dataverse using Power Automate, Logic Apps, or other capabilities offered by Azure.

You cannot enable rollback if a custom process action is invoked directly from within a workflow. You can enable rollback if an action is triggered by a Power Apps web services message.

Unlike Microsoft Dataverse workflows or plug-ins, an custom process action doesn’t have to be associated with a specific table. You can define global custom process actions that can be called on their own.

Custom Process Actions limitations

Workflow activities/assemblies using .NET

Read more: Workflow activities/assemblies

If you don’t find the functionality you require using the default process activities, you can add custom activities so that they’re available in the editor used to compose workflow, dialog, and action processes.

The new actions will be available in the workflow designer for users to apply - for example a condition or some new operation. In this way you can add new custom actions in the process designer for users of your environment.

Constraints and limitations

Unlike an ordinary plug-in, with workflow extensions you don’t have the opportunity to explicitly register your code for a specific step. This means you don’t control whether the code in your workflow extension will run synchronously or asynchronously.

When your workflow extension is used in a synchronous workflow or a custom action the time spent running the code directly impacts the user’s experience. For this reason, workflow extensions should require no more than two seconds to complete when used synchronously. If your extension requires more time than this, you should document this and discourage use of the extension in synchronous workflows or custom actions.

Custom API using .NET

Read more: Custom API

Custom API is a newer way to define custom messages, offering developers better capabilities to create their own messages.

Using Microsoft Dataverse business events, you can create a custom API without a plug-in to pass data about an event that other subscribers respond to. In other cases you’ll combine a custom API with a plug-in to define some operation that is delegated to Dataverse to compute and return the result. A plug-in that implements the main operation for a custom API is subject to the 2 minute time limit to complete execution.

They can be used on demand by the apps and flows, the data changes done in the** custom API plug-in** are transactional. See Custom Processing Step Type for guidance on defining how can your custom API be executed.

Custom API is the best choice when the only service it uses is the Dataverse API for other data work.

Constraints and limitations

Custom APIs use plug-ins to perform data operations. Like all Dataverse plug-ins, these plug-ins have a two-minute execution time-out.

Sending the request asynchronously doesn’t provide more execution time.

Set “Enabled for Workflow” to true when you need to enable calling a custom API as a workflow action. However, when this option is selected some limitations are imposed.

Background operations

Read more: Background operations

Use background operations to send requests that Dataverse processes asynchronously, without maintaining connection while a request runs. Even when executing request asynchronously, the two-minute execution time-out still applies to the plug-in.

Constraints and limitations

If an error occurs during execution of the request, it’s retried up to three times, using exponential backoff strategy.

Business events

Read more: Business events

Automation of business logic and integration with other systems are driven by events. Using Microsoft Dataverse business events, you can create a custom API without a plug-in, to pass data about an event that other subscribers respond to asynchronously. You can use custom APIs without any synchronous logic that exist to only to notify listeners that an event of interest occurred. You emit the event by calling the custom action.

Constraints and limitations

Custom process actions can also be cataloged as business events. This is for backward compatibility, and custom API is the recommended approach for exposing events.

Custom events can represent events that occur in external systems. See External Events for additional considerations.